Welcome to Union County’s Ponderosa Farm Park. This park is open from dawn to dusk and includes walking trails, two multipurpose athletic fields, and farm-themed playgrounds with spray fountains.
This is a very busy park, so please be discrete. The cache is NOT located on private property outside of the park.
Bonanza was one of the most popular and longest-running Westerns in television history. The appeal of the show was universal, and it influenced people around the world. Bonanza was on the air for fourteen seasons, spanning 431 episodes from September 1959 to February 1973. In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
On Bonanza, the Ponderosa Ranch is the home of Ben Cartwright and his three sons Adam, “Hoss” and “Little Joe.” The map of the Ponderosa is seen in every opening of the show as it is consumed by flames to reveal the show’s stars riding up on horseback. Because the series was on the air so long and in so many countries, it is possible that more people have seen the map of the Ponderosa than any other map in history.
The Cartwrights
Adam, “Little Joe,” Ben and “Hoss”
The show chronicles the adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene). He had three sons, each by a different wife: the eldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts) who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric, "Hoss" (Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (Michael Landon).
The family lived on a 600,000+ acre ranch (over one thousand square-miles) called The Ponderosa on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada. The ranch name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West.
Bonanza was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt less about the range but more with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors, and just causes. The series was known more for its family dramas and for addressing contemporary themes than for Western vistas and traditional cowboy action storylines.